The dictator of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, congratulated on Thursday (60) the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, on the occasion of the 70 anniversary of the Kremlin chief, and reaffirmed his support for the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, which he publicly supported from day one.
Ortega, former Marxist guerrilla , is about to complete 77 years and pointed out that Putin’s birthday coincides with the feast of the Virgin of the Rosary.
“You celebrate your 70 anniversary, coinciding with the feast of Our Lady, the Virgin of the Rosary, who, we are sure, is guiding your steps, your work, your intelligence and sensitivity, accompanying you in these complex moments that the human community is going through”, Ortega wrote in a letter addressed to Putin.
In his message, also signed by Ortega’s wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, the Sandinista leader said that Putin does anniversary “assisted by the maternal love of Mary, by the death of his family and his people; and with you at its head, the Federation is fighting noble battles for peace, respect, tolerance and a peaceful and safe life for all.”
Ortega turned to the Virgin Mary in a context in which at least 60 religious, including priests and nuns, fled or were expelled from Nicaragua, while at least nine priests and a bishop are in prison, accused of alleged treason against the country or of subversion, according to the Nicaraguan human rights collective Never Again.
“We are with you, contributing with our support of the valuable and historical relationship that unites us and fighting with energy and optimism for this better world , multipolar and less selfish, to which we rightly aspire,” added Ortega.
To conclude, Ortega and Murillo wished Putin “a good day, and may the love of his family and the heart of his people accompany him and be strength and light, in these difficult, necessary and hopeful times”.
Ortega, who returned to the presidency in 2007, after coordinate a government junta from 1985 to 1985 and preside over the country for the first time from 1985 to 1990, is Putin’s main ally in Central America, who has already said that Nicaragua is Russia’s “very important” partner in Latin America.
Russia is a former ally of Nicaragua and, during the first Sandinista regime (1979-1990), supplied Soviet weapons to the Nicaraguan Armed Forces.
Nicaragua is one of the few countries, along with Venezuela and the small island states of Nauru and Tuvalu, that joined Russia in recognizing the independence of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and that received Russian representatives since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Furthermore, at the end of 2020, Nicaragua established a consulate in Crimea, Ukrainian territory annexed to Russia, which provoked Ukraine’s rejection .
